In the Blue Economy, researchers look to the ocean’s resources with the goal of building strong, sustainable economies, particularly in coastal areas that face outsize economic burdens when relying solely on traditional energy sources. This thrust includes offshore wind, such as innovative fixed and floating wind turbines, wave energy, solar energy, and combinations of these sources designed to maximize energy use and create efficiencies around natural phenomena and community needs. Researchers in the Blue Economy use inter- and multidisciplinary approaches, test marine energy devices and components, and consider energy systems in combination with other infrastructures such as water for efficiency and lower costs.
Research areas include:
- Climate resilience centers, focused on building coalitions with cities and infrastructure providers to handle extreme weather events such as flooding and drought
- Structural performance of tidal turbine blades under turbulent loading, combining small-scale blade testing with numerical computation simulations
- Desalination and support for communities with water challenges
- Integrating marine renewable energy resources, such as wave energy converters, into coastal microgrids for optimal resource allocation and increased stability during fluctuating loads, weather, and renewables
